Orchard-heater.



` mie ORCHARD HEATER COMPANY, F GRAND- J'UNCTON, COLORADO, A COlfOtA'lN ORCHARD-HEATER.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd Ein n 3, 39E ai,

Application led June 17, 1912. Serial No. 704,237.

To all whom vit muy rom-em 'sutlieient ail.' admitted to the ysaid elnnnber Be it known that l. WiLLIAM C. SCHEU- for startiflo' thehurnel in ooeraiion.

a citizen of 'the United States, residing at Grand Junction',` in the county7 'of Mesa and State of Colorado. have invented anew and uset'ul Orchar(l-H'eater, of which the following is a specification. l

This invention relates to means for fur` nishing heat to orchards to protect the same from the effects of vt'rost or freezing weather,

'and particularly to that class of orchard heaters which are adapted for burning oil. for example, crude oil, slop distillate or other cheap oil. Y

The main ohject'ot1 the present invention is to provide an oil burner which will burn fuel of the stated character in suchmanner as to produce a maximum amount of heat with the minimum amount of smoke or annulge, the protective action of the burner being based on its` heating eil'eet and not on Vthe smudge produced thereby.' In many eases, particularly in lemon orcharxils. the production oi smudge or smoke-is objectionable as it impairs the appearance of the iruit'and byproviding for combustion of the fuel in such manner that substantially no smoke is m1-.ahmedv1 the objectional)le eti'ects of this smudge are avoided and at the same time, theiiuel is utilized with maximum economy in the production of heat.

.in important feature ol the present invention is the provision ol' means t'or preliminary vaporization oi the oil before com! bustion. the heater comprising a vaporizing chamber into which soliicient air is admitted to generate b v its combustion, the required amount of heat for vaporization of the oil, thisl vapor being conducted a'ivay from the generating point and mixed with a further quantity 0f air for complete combustion thereof. v

,Another object of the invention is to provide, means'for regulation ofthe amount ot' air admitted to the vaporizing or generatinnd Chamber, sons to govern the arnountof vapor generated and thereby vary the heating effect of the burner in accordance with the requirements. l

Another object of the invention is to provide an air supply means for the generating o r vaporizing chamber which Will maintain a. supply of air when said regulating means is turned ott', so that therewill always bel Another object of the'invention is to so construct the heater .that the various parts thereof may be nested :for storage or Ship` ment. Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. 'i

The. accompanying drawings illustrate.

embodiments of my invention, and referring thereto: Figure :l is a vertical' section of the heater with the cover plate removed. Fig. 2`is a plan view ofv the complete heater. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation thereof.l ig. iisa detail section of a. form of joint between the chimney and cover. Fig. 5 1s a section on line wav", Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a side eleva# tion partly 1n section, of a' different 'form of thel heater. Fig'. Tis a-section on iine` :LIL-rn?, Fig. 6. Fig. l8 is a vertical section of Aanother form of theheater.l A

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, the heater con.- prises a p ot or base vportion l, forming a reeeptacle for the oil, this pot being of anj7 suitable shape, being, for example, round and flared upwardly so that a iarg'e num? her of pots may be nested for storage or shipment. A cover or top member' 2 is provided for said pot, preferably formed as a frnsto conical member oi sheetiron o r other suitable material, and having' at its .lower edge a flange 3 for fitting the upper edge of.

the pot l, either `:inside or outside thereof, the said member 2 being formed at its upper end with an opening 4 for connnunieating with the chimney 5. Any suitable lmeant,` may be used for coniiemiiig the chimney,7 to the member 2, for example, as shown in Fig.

1, the member- 2 inav have an upwardly e-X-n 'tending flange 4 lformed by drawing or bending the upper edge of said member 2 and the chimney 5 may have its loweredge formed as shown at 5', so as to tit closely and tightly on said' flange 4, whereby the chimney is secured in position on the inem`- ber 2 and an airtight joint is maintained. Or, as shown in Fig. 4e, the chimney may he secured to the cover by rivets 6. By means of the flange 3 and the said joint between the member 2 and .the chimney, the s aee within the pot l and cover 2 is maintained in suhstantialij,vv airtight relation with respect to the enten-air, so that air can not enter except through the air inlet means CAD hereinafter described, this space Within the pot and below the cover, forming a generating'or vaporizing chamber, and the air inlet means being such thatlonly sullicientair is admitted' to this chamberto provide by its combustion, the necessary heat and vaporization ofthe oil.

. The air inlet means may consist of a plate 8 formed as a casting or forging, fitted to the frusto conical face of the member 2 and secured to said member by suitable means such as rivets 8', said plate 8 being provided with a plurality ofl air inlet openings 9 and with a starting opening 10, said openings in the said lplate registering with openings 9 and 10 in the/member 2. The metal around the air inlet openings in the cover member is preferably bent up into the openings in the plate as shown at 2, to give a watertight joint.` A closure member or damper plate 11 is movably mounted on the plate 8, for example, by being pivoted thereto as shown at 11 so as towholly or partially close one or both of the openings 9, the plate 8 being cut-away above the opening 10, as shown at 12, so that said opening 10 is never closed and air ma yenter therethrough for starting the burner in operation, even when the damper plate 11 1s in closed position. Said damper plate 11 extends over the plate 8 at each end so as to shed Water and is provided at its outer end with a perforation 13 to facilitate operation of 'the damper plate by means of a suitable implement, and said damper plate is provided at its upper edge with an npturne'd flange 14 and at its lower edge with a downturned ange l5 to assist in shedding Water.

The 4chimney 5 is referably round and may be flared upward y as shown in Fig. l, said chimney being provided', for example, at its upper portion with openings 6 for admission of air, said holes,l being provided in any desired number and in any desired arrangement, for example, in a single row. A cover plate 27 may be provided for the chimney, said cover plate having :i downtnrned rim 28 extending over the upper edge ot' the chimney, so as to prevent rain trom entering the chimney, it being understood 'that this cover plate removed when the burner is in operation.

The construction above described may be `variously modified without departing from the invent-ion, for example, the dange El on the cover member 2 may be made to extend on the inside ot' the pot 1, as shown in Fig. (l, instead of on the outside, as shown in Fig. 1. The air inlet openings for the vaporizing chamber may be located in the side of the pot 1 and may be closed by a sliding valve plate 2G guided in ways 245, see Fig.

G and the recess 12 ma' be o: 'Jed as shown in this figure, so that the openings closed. oldi of. stach', ma,

be formed as an upwardly tapering pipe, as shown at 18, in Fig. 6, and in this case,

it may conveniently be lconnected rigidly to the cover, indicated at 19, for example, by means of a' seam '20, this construction enablin' the chimney and cover member to be neste together, .whereas in the form shown in Fig. 1, the chimney and cover member will be detached and nested separately, or as shown at 21 in Fig. S, the chimney may be made of cylindrical ferm and may be provided with an outwardly flaring flange 22 at its upper edge having perforations 23 for admission of air. The air inlet means may be providedat a plurality of places distributed around the cover member as indicated at 24 in Fig. 8. lt is advantageous to form the chimney or stack se that it begins at the top of the cover member 2 and extends upwardly therefrom, such construction provides acontinuous chamber or passage for flow'of the vapor from the generatm or lvaporizing chamber to the stack, wit out retardin or impeding its movement.

A lid 1s preferably provided for the heater to cover the sta'ek or chimney' when the heater is not in use, so as to lprevent rain from entering. In ease a flaring chimney such as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is used, the said lid is preferably of the form shown at 27, 'being provided with downturned inwardly bent flanges 28 which fit the sides of the chimney, this flange being on three sides, leaving the fourth side open, so that the lid may be shoved onto the chimney from one side, and the flanges 28 will en gage with the chimney to hold the lid firmly in position and prevent it from being dislodged by wind. In case' a tapering chinaney is used, the lid may consist of a round plate shown at 30 in Fig. 6, with a `downturned flange 31 fitting around the chimney and covering the holes therein.

The operation L lfollows: The lid 2l' being removed, oil i )cured into the pot 1, for example, to nearl/ @ne full depth of said pot. At the time or starting, a little gasolene or distillate may be poured into the pot and ignited by a torch, and sufficient heat is thereby.produced tf start the heater in operation, the air entering through the opening 10 causing combustion of a portion of the vapor in the 'faimrizirig or generating chamber, the heatproduced in this manner, being suflicient to generate vapor from the body of oil contained in the pot l in suhcient quantity for the continuous operation of the burner until the said body of oil is consumed. ln thisl connection the location of the air inlet means in the conical cover member 2 is of advantage in that it calls for the incoming" air to be directed obliquely downward toward the body of oil, so' that the resulting` flame er riches toward the oil. This vapor' ae in normal 0p io t iue'nce of 'this operation.l the-combustion efected in'theburner is thetofQ-hycroc'arbon vapor and not of oil, the'oil vaporized sind then burned nldistinction to i risin' from the surface of the body .ofoil.

eiiition; coniinedto the Surface adjncentito the air inletand does not `pass ont through the chimney vso thatl'unconsunied h ydiocnr, bon vapor passes upwardlv from the vxipoifizingv.,chz nnbei" through the opening 4 into the stack or chimney 5, and .that portion of,

the vapor which-posses the openings 6 is mixed with n 'further quz'intity of nir and (,onsunied thereby, the quantit of'aiir so edmitted to the vapor being' su cientgto pro-' duce complete combustion.v a'By moving the damperp cte 1l so as'to open the Vopeningel 9 more or less, an edditioiinlA anunt of nr may be uppliedso as to increasel thel size of the generating flame end proportionately increase 'the heat developed und the amount of vapor: generated passing up through the chimneyor staclg. By this means the magnituile of the iiimeat'the top of the stack.

may be vatriedwith cor'refspondi-ngvariution in the 'amount of heat produced by the burner, but .it will .b'e understood` thut'fthe regulation of the air admittedttbro'ughlthe air inlet openingsJ 9 in thii manner is limited to the :imo-unt required for. generationso that thefinal combustion takes place in or i above the stack md the two zonesof flume,

viz'j.,I the generating iiame and the complete combustion fiume are kept separate and dietinct in .the vm'srninl operation." In' conseing first the vaction of ii. fiume, in Contact `with and in wiii, however@ `ii@ understood that-when y the air inlet openings are opened wide and the flame is operating atninximum intensity, the generating flame ma the stack and merge into "for receiving/oiga cover. for t e pot hevmg a ilangeengaginfg the edge of the pot to maken tight joint `therewith", said cover ex tending upwardly in'the-form of a vf x'ustnm of a cone end hnving a central opening v:md

.rin theV said 's ace, with suicie'nt' 'being provided with nir inlet openings, andl with scid cover, said chimiie 'nir inlet' openings, u plete on seidcover, s aid 30 nv chimney extending upwardly from' the upperv end oflsnid cover and communicating 50 with said opening, said chimney having lat'- al eir'iniet openings, air inl'et means opening into the spacemclosed by the cover,`and f meazis `for restricting admission of.` airfiethrough said air inlet to produce'coinbustion 55 heat te vs ,pori'ze theoil, the airilet open ings in the chimneyv being of suici'ent pncity to provide for complete'comhustien i' of the vapor sol generated. Too l 2'. An orchard heater comprising a pot, e; frusto conical cover member provided with :i ,Bange making a tight joint for said pot,-v

.nnd liatvinge centra o ening, a chimney.

communicating with sai opening lend ex 65 tending'upwardly therefrom, and making.

tight )oint 'with said cover7 snidv chimneyy having lateral air inlet openings, seid cover :i closure member for 'regulating' the amount of opening of said air'ii/ilgtopenings in the i cover. ,fi ,f .Y 3. An `orchard heater comprising a: pot, cover member providedi'withn flange mitking a tight joint witlijuidpot, -and haying 75 a central opening, et ichimneygtcomrnunicating with said openmf'ieddjextendlngupwardly therefrom and' `nn iig a tightjoint f having laterail plate -being In presence 'ofe- Y GCT. HAoxLEY, Minn' E. BL'A'snu.. l 

